Join Douglas Adams's hapless hero Arthur Dent as he travels the galaxy with his intrepid pal Ford Prefect, getting into horrible messes and generally wreaking hilarious havoc. Dent is grabbed from Earth moments before a cosmic construction team obliterates the planet to build a freeway. You'll never read funnier science fiction; Adams is a master of intelligent satire, barbed wit, and comedic dialogue. The Hitchhiker's Guide is rich in comedic detail and thought-provoking situations and stands up to multiple reads. Required reading for science fiction fans, this book (and its follow-ups) is also sure to please fans of Monty Python, Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, and British sitcoms.  (from Amazon.com)

Douglas Noël Adams (11 March 1952 – 11 May 2001) was an English author, comic radio dramatist, and musician. He is best known as the author of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. Hitchhiker's began on radio, and developed into a "trilogy" of five books (which sold more than fifteen million copies during his lifetime) as well as a television series, a comic book series, a computer game, a towel and a feature film that was completed after Adams' death.  (from Wikipedia.org)

1. Adams flippantly depicts the destruction of the planet Earth as a casual, everyday sort of occurence.  Why do you think he does this?  What impact does it have on the emotional development of the narrative, specifically on Arthur Dent?

2. Trillian's "reappearance" later in the plot thoroughly unsettles Arthur.  Why is this character taken from a bit cameo to a full-fledged protaganist?  How does Arthur's rivalry with Zaphod alter his behavior?

3.  Explore the notion of a manically depressed robot.

4.  Adams frequently incorporates absurdist humor into his novel.  Can Zaphod be viewed as a satirical caricature of the bumbling politician?  Are there other allegories throughout the story?

5.  The Heart of Gold's improbability drive features heavily into the storyline.  To great lengths, Adams works to have each scene appear as a bizzare, cynical ramble, yet at the end everything ties together.  Describe how this plot element and the narrative style mirror each other.

6.  How different would the world be, if humans were not the first, nor even the second most intelligent beings on Earth?

7.  Despite being practically...well, worthless throughout the entire story, the fate of the universe (at least in part) falls on Arthur Dent's shoulders.  How do his common, mundane sensibilities help him when the other characters are unable to act?

8.  Why 42?